A Quick Review of ‘CARRIE’

Hey there MMT family! How’s everyone enjoying the weekend? For those who enjoy horror/thrillers, you may have been anticipating the remake of CARRIE, which opened nationwide on Friday, 10/18. I screened this film last week and, as a fan of the original Brian De Palma directed classic, I was mildly disappointed but could appreciate several of the timely updates made. Let me attempt to explain with no spoilers (of course).

For those who aren’t familiar with the original movie, it is based on the novel CARRIE which is author Stephen King’s first. It tells the story of a socially isolated teenager, being raised by an oppressive, ultra-religious mother, who discovers that she has telekinetic abilities. She faces bullying and ostracism at school, and when one exceptional act of kindness goes horribly wrong “all hell breaks loose,” literally.

Current technology and use of social media in this 2013 re-imagining was a very appropriate and timely addition to the story. With so many mainstream examples of bullying via social media, and the negative effects of such, the use of it in the story definitely felt authentic, and will surely be identifiable to a younger audience (over age 18 of course since this is an R-rated film).

I also enjoyed Academy Award nominated Julianne Moore (The Kids Are Alright, Don Jon) who portrayed Carrie’s mother Margaret, in the film. But, because I don’t believe this new screenplay held a candle to the depth penned in the original, I believe Piper Laurie’s Academy Award nominated performance in the 1976 version is much more haunting and memorable.

Now Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Hugo) had some pretty big shoes to fill in the lead as Carrie, if anyone is doing comparison to the incomparable Sissy Spacek. Moretz definitely brought an innocence and conflicted nature to the character, especially as she is developing and defining her supernatural ability. What didn’t work for me, and this is no fault of Moretz, was the 2013 overly demonstrative version of Carrie’s abilities, which in this film became sort of X-Men/Jean Grey/Phoenix-like. It lessened the impact of the spook/horror effect, and really was just plain gore and/or corny at times.

For those who really enjoy these types of films, and if you’re not picky with your big screen thrills, there is definitely some fun to be had watching CARRIE. For me, the movie was fair at best but left me craving a re-watch of the original. And speaking again of the original, and for that matter classic horror films from the 70’s and early 80’s, whatever happened to those classic spooky scores? I don’t watch a lot of the newer horror films, so really help me out – do they still have great theme music? You know à la “Carrie,” “Halloween,” or the “Exorcist?” I dedicated our Facebook page Saturday soundtrack to a few of these classics today, and you can check it out here.

Alright, that’s it for me MMT family. Make sure you leave a thought or two below after you see this remake. Very interested to see what you guys think! Oh, and congrats to all those who were selected to screen “12 Years A Slave” next week. All winners have been notified via email so check your inbox, it may be you!

You know me, I’m such a chicken shit, that I’ve never actually watched “Carrie”, but I know a lot about the original, because it’s iconic like “Rosemary’s Baby” or “Halloween”. I agree, it’s timely for a remake in the face of all this cyber-bullying. Too bad they over did the special effects.